Immunotherapy Response Criteria for Hematologic Malignancies Scientific Workshop

The Lymphoma Research Foundation’s (LRF) Immunotherapy Response Criteria for Hematologic Malignancies Workshop, held in 2015 in partnership with the Cancer Research Institute, allowed leading clinicians and researchers to share their experience with immunotherapy agents, then an emerging treatment for people with lymphoma. At issue was the fact that certain treatments may induce various patterns of response, including immune flare reactions. Previously, immune-related response criteria (irRC) had been developed for solid tumors sharing similar biology and clinical observations. Lymphomas and other hematologic malignancies were among the major cancer types for which new immune-based cancer treatments were only in development. The objective of the workshop was to address the unique patient responses to this class of drugs relative to lessons from solid tumors and recommend appropriate adaptations of current lymphoma response criteria at a pivotal time in the development of a new class of treatments for people with lymphoma.

The Workshop was convened in November 2015; experts from around the country gathered to discuss the evaluation of the response criteria of immune checkpoint inhibitors in lymphoma, as they worked to bring effective treatments to people with this disease. The open dialogue and presentations led to a better understanding of the unique patient response to this class of drugs and the response criteria which clinical trial sponsors, clinicians and clinical investigators could use when designing protocols, interpreting response data in the course of clinical care, and when submitting information to regulatory agencies.